


Pokemon Harmony and Dissonance - Chapter 1

by Akarezik_AKA_Aki



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29203527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akarezik_AKA_Aki/pseuds/Akarezik_AKA_Aki
Summary: Set in the regions of Toakairn and Fenoxi, this series follows a young woman named Rhea and her childhood Pokemon companion, now a fully evolved Blaziken she named Cinder. The two work as assistants for the region's premiere Pokemon Professor, the esteemed Professor Kauri. Though she is no Pokemon Trainer, Rhea and Cinder will soon find themselves caught up in a discovery that promises to redefine humanity's connection to Pokemon. And yet from the shadows, malevolent forces seek to use this new discovery for their own nefarious ends...
Kudos: 1





	Pokemon Harmony and Dissonance - Chapter 1

Rhea awoke to the sound of her alarm clock blaring from the corner of her room. Still half asleep, she lurched out of bed and fumbled her hands over it until she managed to silence it. Under normal circumstances she would have been fully rested by the time her alarm went off, but last night her trepidation for the next day’s events prevented her from falling asleep until well past midnight. She looked across the room to the place where her Blaziken, Cinder, normally slept. The massive quilt he used as bedding was tossed open, and he was nowhere to be seen.

“Empty,” she muttered to herself. “He must already be outside and out on his morning run.” Cinder’s dedication to fitness never ceased to amaze her, especially because Fighting-type Pokemon like him needed very little actual exercise to maintain muscle tone.

_I just hope he remembers to be at the lab on time,_ Rhea thought to herself, _we can’t exactly conduct the experiment without his help._ With that, Rhea hauled herself out of bed and proceeded to get dressed. She crept downstairs, careful not to wake her mother and father, still fast asleep at this hour. Normally her parents would have been up and in the kitchen preparing breakfast, and she would have had a lengthy discussion with them regarding what was on the day’s agenda at her job in Professor Kauri’s laboratory. Today she had deliberately woken up a few hours earlier in order to slip out of the house without disturbing them.

_No need to make them worry,_ she thought as she grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and quietly exited the back door, _if everything goes well, I’ll just have something really profound to talk about when I get home tonight_. It was eerily quiet in the streets outside, as most of the city’s residents were still sleeping. Even though Verdant City was the capital of the Toakairn region, it was still not a massive metropolis like Luminose City in Kalos. The night life in the city was limited at best, consisting of late-night restaurants for the city’s public servants and a few bars for the night owl tourists that came through. Being a small island nation did have its perks, though; the few Trainers that passed through the region came because they were seeking something specific to Toakairn, and not because they were simply crossing another Gym Badge or Pokemon League off their list.

About a third of the way to the lab, Rhea heard what sounded like a group of people talking very loudly to each other. As she rounded the corner, she saw several men standing around what at one point had probably been a luxury car. However, it was now so damaged and burned it was difficult to tell it was ever a motor vehicle. There were four of them, and based on their clothes and accents, the lot were probably tourists from another region. As Rhea listened, she quickly ascertained that the group was most likely intoxicated and taking out their frustrations on whatever was nearby.

_I’d best take the long way around them_ , she thought to herself, and began heading for the closest alleyway off the road. Staying clear of the road lights, she crept off the sidewalk and down the alley, out of the men’s line of sight. As she walked down the alley, she breathed a sigh of relief and allowed herself to relax a bit.

_Looks like they didn’t notice me,_ she thought to herself. She proceeded down the alley, only to discover that the alley was blocked by a fence topped by an overhang that jutted out too far to climb over. “Just my luck,” Rhea cursed. She bent down and examined where the fence met the ground. The metal links looked like they had been set in the asphalt when the road was made, which meant she couldn’t pry the bottom part up to crawl under it. “Looks like I have to head back to the main road. I just hope those punks have moved on by now.”

As Rhea walked back down the alley, the early morning sun began slowly illuminating her surroundings. She stopped abruptly; the guys who had trashed the car were walking down the alley towards her. Their conversation drifted down the alleyway towards her.

“I’m telling you guys, I saw a woman come down here,” one of them said.

“Nathan, you’ve said that about the last three alleys we’ve been past, and none of them have panned out,” another griped.

“And yet we keep searching them each time he opens his stupid mouth about it,” the third grumbled.

“I just hope he’s right this time,” the last one said, “I’d love the opportunity to knock one of these locals down a peg.” He snorted and spat something foul onto the ground. “These locals, looking down on us and laughing at our nation behind our backs. Oh, we’ll show ‘em what we think of that, won’t we boys?”

_That’s just great,_ Rhea thought as the others jeered in approval, _they’re completely hammered AND spoiling for a fight. Typical Fenoxian behavior._ Thinking on her feet, she ducked behind a nearby dumpster. _If they are as drunk as I think they are, maybe they won’t think to be thorough in their search,_ she hoped. Remaining completely still, she huddled just out of sight as the group approached. They continued their obnoxious banter as they drew near, and there was the sound of a grunt followed by the sound of a bottle shattering on the ground. Sure enough, they passed her hiding spot without even attempting to look closely at their surroundings.

After she was sure their backs were to her, Rhea quietly began moving back up the alley to the main road. _Man, Cinder will be surprised to hear how I gave those guys the-_ *crunch*. Rhea looked down; she had been so focused on putting distance between those thugs and herself she hadn’t been watching the ground. The broken remains of the bottle glinted under her foot.

_Well, crap._ Rhea turned around to see the four men all moving back in her direction. She thought about running but decided against it; she had no way of knowing if any of them were armed, and she figured that none of them would hesitate to hurt her if they thought they could get away with it.

“Well now, how did we miss a pretty thing like you in a place like this?” The way the man said it made Rhea’s skin crawl. She recognized the speaker as the one the others had called Nathan, and in the dim lighting she could tell he was a pasty, balding man wearing a heavy overcoat and sporting a nasty scar across his nose. He moved towards her, apparently trying to present himself as non-threatening.

“It could be that the beer goggles you all are wearing impeded your vision,” Rhea retorted. A couple of the men didn’t seem to be able to process what she just said, so she decided to press her advantage. “Look, you all seem like respectable gentlemen. I have someone I have to meet, so how about we go our separate ways, and I won’t even tell the authorities what you did to that vehicle out in the street?”

“Is that a threat?” the creepy one in the back spoke up, “Let me handle her, Nathan. I’ll teach her not to disrespect her betters.”

“Shut it, Roderick, I’ve got this,” Nathan said. There was an edge in his voice that made it clear he didn’t like being told what to do. He turned back to face Rhea and persisted in maintaining his ‘friendly’ façade. “Look, I’m going to let that little comment slide. In return, why don’t you do us a favor? You see, we’re not from around here, and we’d really appreciate it if someone local showed us around town and made us… feel welcome,” he walked closer to her as he spoke.

_This guy’s either delusional or deranged if he thinks that line would have worked on anyone, let alone in the current circumstances._ Rhea decided to try and stall for time while she slowly backed towards the alley entrance. “Oh, I’d love to,” she said coyly, “but you see, my friend is quite worrisome. I’m afraid that if I don’t meet him when I’m supposed to, he’s going to come looking for me, and I don’t think he’s going to be in an understanding mood when he finds me with you lot.”

Nathan’s face darkened, and a faint sneer could be seen creeping into his expression. “You know what, boys?” he said, “She keeps talking about this friend of hers, about how he’s _so_ protective of her, and now I want to meet them for myself. What do you say we pay him a visit, see if he’s really all she says he is?” A hint of malice could be heard in his voice now, and Rhea decided now would be a good time to try and escape before they tried anything.

“I don’t think that’s…”, she began, but Nathan reached out and grabbed her arm, and said coldly, “That wasn’t a request.”

He pulled her towards her, but as Rhea got close, she struck him in the groin with her knee. She felt his grip weaken slightly as he grunted in pain and doubled over. She tried to wrest herself from his grasp, but as she tried to pull away, he backhanded her hard across the cheek. Rhea’s vision momentarily went white and she fell to the ground. When her vision began to clear, she could see that the men had surrounded her in a semicircle against the alley wall.

Nathan, still nursing his crotch, muttered, “Well Roderick, I suppose you’re getting what you asked for. Have fun.” He knelt and whispered triumphantly, “Guess you’re going to miss that meet-up with your pal, huh?”

Rhea looked at Roderick, or rather, past him towards the fence. “Actually,” she said, “It looks like he started looking for me already.”

They all turned to look at where she was looking. Even in the dim morning light, Cinder’s crimson-and-cream plumage was clearly visible through the morning haze. He was swiftly approaching the fence, and as they watched, he leapt over it with a flourish and landed without breaking his stride. He came to a stop about fifteen feet out from where they had Rhea cornered, and after appraising the situation, let out a hawk-like cry that pierced the silence of the city.

Rhea stood up, and said sarcastically, “Still want to see if he’s everything I said he is?”

“A Pokemon?!” Nathan yelled incredulously. “Your ‘friend’ is a Pokemon?! You’ve got to be joking!” He motioned at the rest of his posse. “Alex! Roderick! Morris! Get rid of this overgrown bird!” The three other men moved to face Cinder, Roderick placing himself directly in front of him, while the two called Alex and Morris took up positions to his left and right.

Roderick pulled out a knife from his pocket. The blade was easily longer than his hand. He twirled it once through his fingers, saying, “A girl **and** a gourmet meal in the same night? Who knew coming to Toakairn would be so much fun!” Then he lunged at Cinder, aiming the knife’s point right for his midsection.

That was probably the single dumbest thing Roderick could have done. Cinder sidestepped his thrust, grabbed him by the wrist, and twisted. Roderick gave a pitiful yelp of pain as he dropped the knife, followed by a shout of surprise as Cinder lifted him off his feet. Cinder chucked him full force toward the fence, which bent slightly from Roderick’s impact. He hit the ground upside down and remained there, groaning.

The other two decided to try and attack Cinder simultaneously. The one on his right (Rhea just decided it was Alex) grabbed a 2x4 plank from a nearby dumpster. It looked rotten, but it had several nails jutting out of one end. Alex held it so that the nails were on the far end, then he and Morris charged Cinder, hoping to overwhelm him.

Cinder simply decided to divide and conquer. He took a quick step towards Alex, then knelt and drove his elbow into the man’s solar plexus. Alex staggered and gasped, dropping the board. Cinder then delivered a snap kick to his face which sent him flying up and back, landing in the dumpster he had fished the 2x4 from. Cinder turned his attention back to Morris, who was still charging him without a weapon. Morris reached back and threw a haymaker punch aimed at Cinder’s face. Cinder feinted to one side, then delivered a vicious headbutt. Morris crumpled to the ground with a moan.

Nathan was momentarily speechless; the entire exchange between Cinder and his assailants had lasted less than a minute. “Useless idiots!”, he shouted while reaching inside his overcoat, “I’ll put it down myself!” He drew out a revolver and aimed it at Cinder.

Cinder was already moving as Nathan drew his weapon; he juked left as Nathan pulled the trigger, which caused the first shot to strike the fence and sever one of the metal links. Nathan adjusted his aim and fired a second time; this time Cinder ducked and launched himself at Nathan, causing the shot to impact the wall where his head had been a moment before. He collided with Nathan’s legs, and there was a sickening pop as his knee bent the wrong way. Nathan screamed as he fell, firing one last round which shattered a window in a nearby building. Cinder pinned Nathan’s gun hand to the ground with his foot, and then knocked him out with a swift punch to the man’s temple.

Once he was certain Nathan was no longer a threat, Cinder turned his attention to Rhea. He had a concerned yet exasperated look on his face, like he was asking _Are you alright?_ and _Mind explaining how this happened?_ at the same time. Numerous responses went through her mind regarding what to say, but all she managed was a meager “Thanks for that.” Cinder seemed pleased with her thanks, but Rhea felt like she had yet again failed to properly express her thanks to her companion. This was not the first time that he had saved her life or pulled her out of a dangerous situation, and Rhea felt as if she might never find the words to express her gratitude for him.

A slurred curse echoed through the night, ending their one-sided conversation. They both looked over towards the fence, which Roderick had managed to prop himself up against. “Should’ve known…” he said, trying to form a coherent sentence, “Should’ve known… that thing was… dangerous. You… stopped being scared… when it showed up…” He leaned to the side and retched his stomach’s contents onto the pavement, then turned and glared at the two of them.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Rhea said. She really felt like salting this wound to his pride. “You see, when a Blaziken fights, flames normally burn near its wrists and feet. The tougher the fight, the bigger the fire. You probably didn’t notice, but the entire time he was picking you four apart, there wasn’t a single lick of flame anywhere on his body.” She strode over to him, leaned down close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath, and summed up her insult. “In other words, he didn’t even break a sweat.” She kicked him hard in the chest, and he let out a final feeble sounding moan as he passed out.


End file.
